Fasting fisherwomen urge Collector to drop cases

Earlier, they tried to meet the Chief Minister N. Rangasamy

The Veerampattinam fisherwomen who started an indefinite hunger strike on Monday have now submitted a memorandum to the District Collector, urging that the cases against the 40 people from the village be dropped.

The group arrived at the garlanding ceremony of poet Bharathidasan on Tuesday morning and attempted to meet the Chief Minister N. Rangasamy, but did not succeed. Subsequently they went to the Collectorate to submit their memorandum asking for the withdrawal of the cases to District Collector S.B. Deepak Kumar.

According to the police, the problem started on the day of polling, when a large group of people decided not to vote. Despite the panchayat passing an order that the people of Veerampattinam would not vote, around 1500 people went ahead and exercised their franchise.

The day after the polls, there was unrest in the village, when the members who decided to vote were allegedly attacked by the others.

The authorities were also forced to seal the panchayat office when announcements were made discouraging people of the village from voting on the day, the police said.